A Thousand Words
by a.touch.eclectic
Summary: The town is once again celebrating Miner's Day, and it might be the perfect time for some truths to finally be realized. Captain Swan fic.


The entire town was out and about. Emma could see now why Miner's Day was so popular. The tradition had shifted slightly according to Mary Margaret; no one had set up an "ogre" slaying booth before the curse had been broken. That didn't stop it from being the most popular spot for most of the men, and even some of the women though.

"Emma, smile!" Ruby said loudly. Emma looked up from helping Mary Margaret set up her archery booth, just in time to see the light go off.

"Ruby! What are you doing?" Emma asked angrily. She grabbed for the camera, but the waitress pulled it out of her reach.

"Just taking some pictures. Look!" Ruby turned the camera around so Emma could see the display. Her face was clearly shocked and less than flattering.

"Get rid of it! Delete it right now!" Emma said. She tried to grab the camera and do the deed herself, but Ruby was too flexible and wily.

"Don't you think pictures should be candid? Posed pictures are so fake. This will help me get the real face of the town," Ruby said.

"Just not with that picture! Please, get rid of it!" Emma shouted.

"Emma, I need you to hold this tape measure so I can check the distance," Mary Margaret said, walking towards them with her arms full of archery equipment.

"Just a second. I need to get my handcuffs so I can finally get rid of a horrible picture." Emma turned around, but Ruby had disappeared into the crowd.

"When I get my hands on her..."

cscscscscscscscscscscs

Killian walked around the bright, colorful tables and tents set up in front of the town hall. He took a handful of the delicious creation Henry had given to him.

"What is this called again?" he asked Henry as he chewed on it slowly.

"Cotton candy. You might want to slow down, by the way. That's practically pure sugar," Henry said.

"I couldn't really care," he replied.

"It will turn your mouth completely blue," Henry warned.

"Completely worth it," Killian said.

Henry gave up trying to convince the pirate, even if he was already on his second bag of the fluffy sugar. "Look! Ruby's taking pictures!" He pointed to the booth with posed and candid photos hung all over it.

"Wow! Ruby, this is amazing!" Henry said.

"Did you stalk everyone in town?" Killian asked, noticing portraits of many notable and not-so-notable citizens of Storybrooke.

"No! I've been doing photography as a hobby recently. I thought today would be a good time to display my new talent to the town. With the option of buying pictures. I already had several people buy some. All the money goes to the nuns, of course," Ruby explained.

"That's great! Would you take my picture? Then I could give one to Emma, another one to my mom, Gramps and Grandma, Archie..."

"I think that's a great idea," Ruby interrupted Henry before he could list the entire town. "Alright, big smile! Three, two, one."

The camera clicked, and Ruby looked at the display to check the picture. "Great! Do you want to see?"

Henry and Killian both huddled around the camera to look at the picture. "Amazing? What magic powers the tiny box to allow it to create such life-like portraits?" Killian asked.

"It's like the TV, remember? It has wires, and electricity, and things like that to make it work," Henry said.

"Give me a second to connect the camera to the printer, and you, my friend, will have the perfect gift to give to anyone. And sine you're going for a package deal, I can give you a discount - five dollars for five pictures," Ruby said.

"Sweet!" Henry fished into his pocket and produced his money, handing it enthusiastically to Ruby as his picture began to print.

"What's this?" Killian asked, pulling a picture hanging on the booth closer to him.

Ruby looked to see which photo Killian was grabbing, and began chuckling when she saw what it was. "I took that this morning. I don't think Emma would be too happy to know that I had it on display like this. Please don't tell her. I'll get rid of it after today. I just thought it was a side of our dear sheriff that we rarely get to see."

"Indeed." Despite the obvious lack of poise and care from Emma within the picture, Killian stared for a long while at the face displayed. It was a look of shock and surprise, one that was reserved for those who managed to catch her before her walls went up. He was mesmerized by it. She wasn't the harsh sheriff who enforced the law as strictly as possible in a place where people were prone to stretch the limits. It didn't show a woman who had been so damaged by a former lover that she refused to let anyone else in. No one would see her fighting a giant, capturing a pirate, or chasing after a witch. The picture just showed Emma.

Killian's attention was finally torn from the picture by a slight clicking sound. "What was that?" he asked.

"Nothing," Ruby said, but the smile she and Henry shared betrayed that it was very far from nothing.

cscscscscscscscscscscs

As the festivities finally wound down, and the last of the townsfolk went home, Emma left Mary Margaret with the cleanup, racing over to Ruby's stand. She was going to get her hands on that photo if it was the last thing she did.

"Ruby!" She yelled when she came in sight of the photo strewn booth. "What did you do with my picture?"

"Hey Emma, how was your day?" Ruby evaded the question.

"Oh no, don't you start with me. I want that picture!" Emma continued shouting.

"Sorry Emma. I deleted it from my camera, and someone bought the only copy I made. Lucky for you, that means no one else will see it."

Emma's eyes went wide and furious. "Someone _bought_ the picture? Who? What did anyone want with blackmail material like that?"

"I don't think he had blackmail in mind when he bought it," Ruby murmured.

"Who was it?" Emma demanded, not taking anymore of Ruby's sass.

"Hook."

Emma's eyes went even wider than possible. This was a nightmare. There was no other way that she could survive such a horrible situation. Captain Hook was in possession of a photo of her with the worst expression possible. He would be spreading it all over town, probably at this very moment. "How could you do that!? Of course he's going to be using it as blackmail! Or just using it to mess with me in another way!"

Ruby put her hand on Emma's shoulder, trying to calm her down. She handed her a picture, hoping that it would prove her point.

"What is this?" Emma asked.

"Do you think he would really try to hurt you?" Ruby asked.

Emma stared at the photo of Killian. He was looking at something, capturing him in candid glory. She was captivated by the soft look in his down turned eyes. There was no harsh pinch in his face from thinking over his plans for revenge. The sadness in his eyes from thinking about Milah was gone. He was truly at peace, truly happy.

"What was he looking at?" Emma asked.

"Guess."

Emma continued to just stare at the picture. She couldn't pull herself away from it. She was looking into his soul, and what she saw there was surprising.

Ruby took another of her surreptitious photos. She smiled brightly at the evidence that just couldn't be erased. The look Emma's eyes was beautifully indescribable as she thought about Killian, and the almost imperceptible presence of the pirate in the background, sharing that same beautiful expression of love.

**AN: Inspired by House MD episode 3x17, a beautiful episode by itself btw. I hope you all enjoyed!**


End file.
